Darchinyan wants flyweight world domination

SecondsOut
Aug 16 2005

“Raging Bull” Vic Darchinyan

By Paul Upham: IBF/IBO flyweight world champion Vic Darchinyan
defends his titles against Colombian Jair Jimenez on August 24 at the
Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia. It is another step towards
what the “Raging Bull” truly believes will be his crowning one day,
as undisputed world champion.

“I am starting a collection. I want all the world titles at
flyweight,” Darchinyan 23-0 (18) told SecondsOut.

Against Jimenez, the 29 year-old will be making the second defence of
his IBF title that he won by stopping long-reigning former world
champion Irene Pacheco last December in the USA. In his next fight,
Darchinyan added the IBO title around his waist with an 8th round TKO
stoppage of South African Mzukisi Sikali on March 27. “I was not
happy because I made some mistakes, but he was a smart boxer,”
Darchinyan said of his 18th career knockout.

The southpaw takes awesome power and a fierce determination into the
ring with him. He came to Australia for the first time in 2000 to
represent his home nation of Armenia at the Sydney Olympic Games.
While he did not win a medal, he impressed trainer Jeff Fenech to the
point where he arranged for him to stay full time and join his Team
Fenech stable. The three-time world champion and Hall of Famer was
very impressed with what he saw. A dynamic power puncher in the
lighter weight classes who possessed a steely resolve to totally
dominate his opponents from the opening bell.

Upon turning professional, Darchinyan set himself a goal of winning a
world title within four years. Only a hurricane in Florida, which
postponed his fight with Pacheco, saw him miss the target by only six
weeks.

Next Wednesday night Darchinyan faces 26 year-old Jimenez 22-4-1
(16). “He is a strong fighter and a good puncher. I will win,” says
Darchinyan. “He is a tough guy, but I have been training hard and I
will knock him out. This will be a good fight for the fans to see. I
am getting focused for each fight. I will be ready.”

Darchinyan believes he can beat anyone in the world at flyweight or
junior bantamweight, but it is not a cocky over-confidence. The other
members of Team Fenech marvel as Darchinyan talks about future
opponents and nonchalantly says, “Yes, I fight him. I beat him,” with
not a hint of arrogance. With the power he possesses in either hand,
he believes that if he catches you just once, you will fall.

For those who are not familiar with Darchinyan’s lethal power in the
ring, there is a body pad hanging on the side of the Team Fenech
gymnasium in Marrickville, Sydney with the hand written inscription –
“Everyone must wear a body protector when sparring Vic.”

“Vic just goes into the ring on a mission to destroy his opponent
whether it is in sparring or a fight,” says Team Fenech co-trainer
Billy Hussein.

To become undisputed flyweight world champion, Darchinyan has WBA
champion Lorenzo Parra, WBC champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and WBO
champion Omar Narvaez in his sights.

“I want the fight with Parra soon,” he says. “I have seen him fight
and he is a very good and smart fighter. He moves very well. But I
know I can beat him.”

Darchinyan was ringside when fellow Team Fenech member Hussein
Hussein lost a tough twelve round decision to Wonjongkam in Bangkok
in November 2003.

“Yes, I have seen him up close,” he said. “I will beat him.”

Because of the politics and monetary demands in boxing, it is not
always possible to arrange unification bouts between world
title-holders. Darchinyan is not concerned though and believes that
he will just keep calling out for the fights to be made.

“If I can get the fight with Parra next and win the WBA title, I will
fight in the USA with three world title belts,” he explained. “I will
put the pressure on Wonjongkam and Narvaez. If there is enough money
on the table for them, I think they will come to fight me. I just
have to keep pushing for the fights. We have not had an undisputed
champion at flyweight for a long time. I want to be the first with
all the belts.”

Having flyweights the quality of Darchinyan and 29 year-old Hussein
working together in the same gym has no doubt helped both of their
careers. Hussein rematches WBC No.1 Jorge Arce on the Diego
Corrales-Jose Castillo card on October 8 in Las Vegas. A win by
Hussein will see him get a rematch with Wonjongkam. If he were to
become WBC champion, what would Darchinyan do then? Could he fight
his team mate and friend?

“Maybe he will win the WBC title and I will be happy for him to win,”
smiled Darchinyan. “We will see what happens. I told Hussy that he
can beat Arce. He will fight smarter this time and he will win. If I
can, I want to be there in Las Vegas for that fight.”

Now an Australian citizen, Darchinyan calls himself an “Armenian
Aussie” and is gathering quite a following in his adopted country.
“Each day I am becoming more popular,” he said. “Everywhere I go
people are recognising me and telling me how much they enjoy my
fights.”

But while he loves living in Australia, there is no place like
Darchinyan’s native home. After the fight with Jimenez, he will
travel back to Armenia for the first time as world champion for a
three-week holiday. “It is going to be beautiful going to Armenia,”
he said. “The fans there have been waiting for me to celebrate.”

Paul Upham
Contributing Editor